


Team Bonding

by purple_cats_unite



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Actor Tom Holland, Autistic Peter Parker, Avengers Compound, Avengers Tower, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Gen, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, he actually has NVLD but that's not a a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:41:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27843901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purple_cats_unite/pseuds/purple_cats_unite
Summary: In which Peter is invited to spend a week at the Avengers compound with Tony and the rest of the team for "bonding purposes." Simple, right? Unfortunately, that's not so simple for Peter because he has a learning disability that makes social interaction really hard.or: Peter has NVLD (Non-Verbal Learning Disability) and has a hard time interpreting social situations. He is a genius when it comes to science and loves being Spider-Man. Tony figures it out and is really accepting/accommodating. Things are going well until Tony invites him to spend the weekend at the compound for “team bonding” with the other Avengers who don’t know Peter has NVLD.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 31
Kudos: 447





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is basically just a way too long rant of living with NVLD through Peter Parker. For those of you who don't know (it's explained later in the story), NVLD is a learning disability that makes it hard to read social cues and stuff. It is really similar to autism, but like not the same. I dunno how to explain it, but I hope you like the story. Let me know what you think.

**Chapter I**

Peter swung his way through the skyscrapers, feeling his arms tense each time the web caught onto a ledge. He didn’t have to think when it came to being Spider-Man, he could just clear his head and be a different person. That’s the thing about Peter, it was hard to be him sometimes. Especially at school, with all the people expecting him to keep up with their conversations and euphemisms. For his friends, Ned and MJ, it all seemed so easy for them. Sure they were nerds and not really popular, but they could have small talk with a person in the hallway without being completely exhausted afterward. But Peter could barely keep it together for a brief conversation about the weather. With Tony, it was easy. He could just ramble on about his new ideas for the suit or about a new topic they were covering in Chemistry. Tony not only would listen, but he could keep up, a rarity for Peter’s wide breadth of knowledge in the sciences.

Peter landed softly on the sidewalk outside Stark Tower, feeling his chest rise and fall after the half hour it took him to get there from the dumpster outside his school where he kept his suit. Ready for an afternoon with Tony in the lab, he gave his ID to FRIDAY who promptly opened the door for him. Rushing into the elevator, pressing the button for the kitchen at least eight times. Due to his super fast metabolism, Peter’s blood sugar was always exceptionally low after a long (and exhausting) day at school, and he was normally starving for one of Ms Pott’s leftover casseroles. The elevator slowed to a stop on the floor Peter had chosen and he practically burst through the door, slipping a bit on the shiny hardwood floor.

“Woah there Spider-Man,” he heard a familiar voice say.

Looking up, Peter saw the smiling, grease-smeared face of Tony Stark, holding a mug of what was no doubt his umpteenth cup of coffee.

“Hey there Mr. Stark,” Peter said, trying to be cool after almost face-planting on the floor. “H-how are you doing today?”

“Nope. I’m not saying anything until you get changed into some normal clothes,” Tony said motioning to the blue and red suit.

“Oh come on Mr. Stark, I’m starving! Can I just have some food first and then change?” Peter whined.

“You know the rules, change first then food,” the older man said in a playful tone.

Peter sighed in defeat and trudged up to his room to change. He knew the rules. It was just fun to test Mr. Stark. Peter actually loved rules. In a world that seemed out to confuse Peter, rules and routine were the two of the few things that brought him comfort. Stumbling out of his suit and putting on a pair of loose jeans and T-shirt, Peter immediately missed the compression that the suit gave him. Sensory issues weren’t new to Peter. He’d had them long before the bite and they only got worse with his powers. As a little kid, he used to flap his hands and walk on his toes when he was excited, or rock back and forth when he was upset. To be perfectly honest, he still did those things when he was alone. Things had been going so well with Mr. Stark and he’d only had brief encounters with the other Avengers (like in Berlin or when Nat would stop by the tower for a status update). Peter tried so hard to be normal in front of them. He pretended to understand Mr. Stark’s dry, sarcastic humor which flew over his head. He pretended to be busy on his notes so he didn’t have to make eye contact, or mess up a nonverbal cue. Despite all that, he truly loved being with Mr. Stark, the older man had become a mentor to him and made him truly laugh even after bad days. Today had been a good day though. He only talked to Ned and MJ about a robotics project he was working on and other than that he didn’t have to interact with anyone else.

Realizing he’s been upstairs for a while, Peter ran downstairs after his stomach had gave a particularly angry grumble.

“There you are, I was beginning to wonder if you had fainted up there,” Tony said, pushing a plate of lasagna toward him.

“Thanks,” Peter mumbled through a large bite of the delicious pasta.

“Hey kid, I was thinking that today we could do some calculations on the tensile strength of your webs.”

Peter’s stomach blanched. Math. The cursed thing. He’d managed to work with Mr. Stark for six months without having to do a single math problem. Peter was great at science because it was just facts and memorizing, math was a completely different subject though. He’d managed to get through the elementary years by simply memorizing and drilling his multiplication table and such. As soon as Algebra and Geometry came into the picture, however, he drowned. It just didn’t make sense with his poor spacial awareness and low visual processing. He really didn’t want Mr. Stark, his idol, finding out about his issues with math. It was just a few steps away from figuring the rest out.  
Picking up on the kids anxiety Tony jumped in, “We could do something else if you want.”

Peter, not wanting to inconvenience Mr. Stark, gulped down his mouthful of lasagna and quickly replied, “No, no, no. That’s fine.”

Tony gave the kid a quizzical look, as if analyzing. Peter felt like he was being x-rayed. His leg began bouncing involuntary, hard enough to shake Peter’s entire body.

“Are you sure?”

“Yup,” Peter squeaked, trying to pass it off as a cough. “I’m finished,” he said pushing his half-eaten plate of lasagna toward the sink.

“Great! Let’s go,” Mr. Stark said, clapping his hands together, making Peter wince.

Once down in the lab, Peter’s heart began to race. Tony put on his loud rock music (which Peter, surprisingly, didn’t mind) and sat down at his desk with a pencil and paper. Peter did the same, not looking at Mr. Stark so he couldn’t see the dread in his eyes.

“Ok, so you’re webs can take about five hundred pounds of pure force, and I’d like to add to that by…” Mr. Stark continued on without Peter taking any of it in.

He knew, in theory, what he wanted to do with the webs. It was just the dumb equations. Which ones was he supposed to use? What numbers went where at what time? See, math isn’t quite as concrete as everyone pegs it to be.

After a few minutes, Tony looked up from his paper of numbers and glanced over at Peter for confirmation on what he had just said. Instead of the eager response he was used to from the teen, he was met with a look of complete and utter confusion, and was that fear?

“Hey kid, you with me?” Tony asked, with an air of playfulness masking his concern.

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Peter quickly said brightly.

“So?” Tony said expectantly.

He was met with a blank expression.

“What do you think of this problem in terms of the strength to flexibility ratio?”

“Oh, uhh, it’s good,” Peter said, trying to sound like he understood what Mr. Stark was talking about.

“Okay,” Tony said suspiciously. “Why don’t you do the next one?”

That’s when Peter began to panic.

“Uhh, you know what Mr. Stark. I’m really tired and I had a huge Spanish test today. My brain’s a bit fried. I’m sorry, I should just go,” Peter said quickly.

“Wait!” Tony called after the boy, but he was already running out the door.

He walked over to the boy’s desk and looked at the piece of paper he’d given Peter. It was completely blank.

…

Peter ran out onto the sidewalk and began sprinting far away from Tower, not letting himself think. It was only when he’d gotten in a taxi on his way to May’s and his apartment that he buried his head in his lap. Mentally cursing himself for running out.

“ _Mr. Stark probably thinks I’m mad at him,_ ” Peter thought to himself. “ _Why am I so stupid?_ ”


	2. Chapter 2

Peter woke up the next morning with a pounding migraine. That tends to happen after he has had an anxiety attack, and with the events of yesterday flooding back to his memory, Peter really couldn’t be surprised at how he was feeling now. He heard a knock on his door, it was a soft tap, but it felt like a crescendo of drums to Peter’s aching brain.

“Hey, Peter? You okay?” He heard May say through the wood. “You didn’t have dinner last night so I made pancakes for breakfast. Why don’t you get up?”

“Coming May!” Peter called as loud as he could muster his voice to go.

In truth, he didn’t want pancakes. The thought of food made him queasy. Swinging his legs over the edge of his bed, Peter pushed himself up to a sitting position. It made his vision swim and his head spin.

Peter grunted in pain as he stumbled over to his desk, grabbing the little white bottle containing some brand name painkillers. He swallowed the two pills with a swig of water before getting dressed.

Meanwhile, at Stark Tower, Tony was staring pensively into his first cup of coffee for the day. His mind was racing over the events of yesterday evening. Why had Peter reacted that way? Why was he so anxious? Was something wrong?

“Good morning sweetie,” Pepper said, coming up behind him to grab another mug. Noticing the look on Tony’s face, Pepper grew concerned. “What’s wrong Tony?”

“Nothing, nothing. It’s just… nothing,” Tony stumbled.

“Tony, there’s clearly something bothering you, just tell me,” Pepper coaxed.

“It’s Peter. He ran out last night and was acting really weird the entire time we were in the lab,” he explained. “I wonder if it’s something I did wrong or if something’s going on with him. He’s never been that way.”

“He’s a teenager Tony, he’s bound to have a few rough days. It’s probably nothing to worry about. But if it’s bothering you, just ask him when he comes over later,” Pepper reasoned.

Tony wasn’t entirely convinced, but he gave Pepper a weak smile before sipping from his mug.

“I’ve got a ton of meetings all over today so I won’t be available to talk. Will you be okay?” Pepper asked.

“Me? Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Tony said, trying to be nonchalant.

…

Peter’s day barely improved at school. The painkillers hadn’t really worked due to his superhero metabolism, and everything was magnified. The bell signifying the end of class, the feeling of his classmates jostling him in the hallway, his own voice sounded loud to him, all mounting on top of his growing anxiety of seeing Tony again this afternoon. It was so bad that at lunch Ned asked him if he was okay.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just woke up with a headache,” Peter said as he rubbed his temples, trying to block out the fluorescent lighting of the cafeteria.

“Do you wanna go somewhere else quieter, like maybe the library?” Ned suggested. He truly was the best friend.

Peter nodded, not wanting to contribute to the noise in his head. They passed MJ on the way out who just quietly followed them. She never asked, she always just knew.

Once they were situated on the floor of the fiction aisle, Peter rested his head on the solid wall of books behind him.

“You guys don’t have to skip lunch for me, I’ll be okay if you wanna go,” Peter whispered.

“Are you kidding loser. We’re not going anywhere,” MJ said in her usual sarcastic voice that Peter knew was always joking.

When they had first met, Peter had been taken aback by how much MJ didn’t mean what she said. It confused him at first, but once he had told her about the way his brain works, she’d explained to him when she was joking. Now, he just knew it was all the time.

The rest of the day passed by with difficulty, but he made it through. Peter was excited to swing through the city and hopefully cure his headache, until he realized that in his haste to leave the tower last night, he’d left his suit there. So, he had to take the subway into Manhattan and then get a cab to Stark Tower. The whole journey was not helpful to his condition. The subway was hot and smelled like spoiled milk. The cab made him feel nauseous and he was almost grateful when they’d reached his destination, even if that meant facing Tony.

Tony, on the other hand, was equally as nervous as Peter was. He normally didn’t mind confrontation with his colleagues, but this was different. This was Peter, and he cared deeply for the kid (even if he didn’t admit it to anyone else).

The elevator doors opened and the two superheroes stared at each other in an awkward silence. Tony quickly cleared his throat.

“Hey kid!” He said in an overly bright manner. “I made you some hot chocolate.”  
Peter winced at the harsh lighting and Tony’s loud voice. He masked it by smiling and walking over to the counter.

Peter and Tony sat in a tense silence as the younger boy held the warm beverage in his hands.

“Uh, Pepper actually made the hot chocolate, so you don’t have to worry that I might’ve messed it up somehow,” Tony said with a smile.

Peter gave a weak chuckle and sipped the liquid. It warmed him from the inside out and even lessened his headache a bit. He gave a genuine smile for the first time that day and took another gulp.

“Um, can we work on some of the suit’s mechanisms?” Peter asked timidly, not looking at Tony.

“Sure.” Tony said. “Anything you want.”

Peter looked up at the ceiling, and bit his lip, not knowing what to say next. Tony filled in the silence.

“Are you done?”

Peter nodded and they both went down to the lab. Tony began blasting AC/DC like always and pulled up the file on Peter’s Spiderman suit. As they worked, Tony kept sneaking glances at Peter who was extraordinarily pale. The reason was because Peter’s senses were going off like alarm bells in his brain. Music never bothered him before and he normally loved it, but something about how the bass kept assaulting his ears made him squirm. He felt his insides rattling against his bones and could hear his heart beating above the blaring music. He must’ve looked terrible because Tony turned down the music.

“Pete, you okay?”

Peter just stood up and said “bathroom” before walking into the hallway. Once out of the sight of Tony, Peter began running to the bathroom. He sank onto the tiled floor and ran his hands through his hair.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry…” Peter whispered to himself over and over again.

He felt his eyes betray him as tears began leaking down his face. Trying to keep his breath steady, he ended up gasping and sobbing.

Tony, wanting to give the kid some space, was still sitting in the lab.

“Boss, it appears that master Peter is in distress,” JARVIS’ voice echoed through the lab.

Tony immediately stood ups and sped over to the bathroom that Peter had locked himself in.

“Pete? Are you okay,” Tony leaned his ear on the door. He could hear the quiet sobs of the teen.

“I’m so sorry Mr. Stark,” Peter whimpered.

“Pete, I’m gonna come in. Can you unlock the door please?”

He heard the shuffling of feet and the clicking of the lock. He opened the door slowly and was met with the bloodshot, red-nosed face of Peter Parker. He looked about five years younger and Tony’s heart broke.

“Oh Pete,” Tony said.

Peter just sobbed and sat back down on the cold floor.

Tony sat down next to him and just looked straight ahead. What was he supposed to do? He wasn’t Peter’s dad, as much as he wished he was. He didn’t know how to handle a situation like this. Then he remembered Pepper’s words from earlier that day.

“ _If it’s bothering you, just ask him_.”

“Pete, do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

Peter didn’t say anything at first and then piped up.

“I’m stupid.”

“Now I know _that’s_ not true,” Tony said. “You’re the smartest the person I know, besides me of course.”

“I’m not as smart as you think. I can be so stupid sometimes. Because, because I have NVLD,” Peter admitted, followed by a large sob.

Tony didn’t understand. “What’s NVLD?”

“Non-Verbal Learning Disability,” Peter sighed, “It’s a disorder that makes it hard for me to read nonverbal social cues and it also affects my sensory processing and spatial awareness. It’s why I don’t understand your jokes sometimes or say the wrong thing. It makes math really hard for me as well. It’s all abstract to me and my brain is very literal and routine oriented. It’s really hard sometimes.”

It all clicked into place for Tony, “Is that why you got upset last night? Because I asked to do math?”

Peter nodded. “I didn’t want you to think I was stupid. I can do all the science and reading and memorizing you want me to do, but it’s the equations I can’t wrap my head around.”

“Okay, so I’ll do all the math,” Tony said. “Hey kid, just tell me next time. I think you are the most brilliant kid, and if your brain works differently, that just makes you more amazing.”

“So you don’t think I’m weird?”

“Pete, you’re a human spider, I work with a Norse god and a super soldier. My bar for weird is pretty high,” Tony said with a smile. “That was a joke,” he added, remembering what Peter just told him.

“Thanks,” Peter said with a little laugh.

“Anytime spider-baby.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think :)

**Chapter III**

Peter slept on the couch. Tony had already texted May that Peter would stay the night. He stood and watched Peter’s chest rise and fall with each soft breath. The poor kid must’ve been barely holding it together today. Peter grunted in his sleep, turning on his side. Tony turned on his phone and looked up NVLD. He opened the first website that listed the characteristics of the disorder.

Trouble interpreting visual information.

Inability to read facial expressions/body language.

Difficulty understanding sarcasm.

Poor physical coordination (no wonder the kid was always running into things)

Difficulty with math concepts.

Hyper-talkativeness.

Trouble breaking down tasks into steps.

Resistance to change.

Drawn to routine.

High reading ability and IQ.

This all sounded like Peter and it really made sense. Tony remembered back to a few weeks ago when he had made a sarcastic comment on how late Peter was, and instead of laughing it off, the teen began apologizing profusely, staring at his feet. Now it all clicked, the kid couldn’t understand that he was joking. Without really thinking, he walkover to the couch and saw the mop of light brown hair peeking out over the blue blanket. Tony wondered what it would be like to live in a world where nothing makes sense. He couldn’t even comprehend it because he’d always been such a people person. What if he was just missing this large part of communication. From that moment, Tony decided he would do everything in his power to make sure Peter never felt weird or stupid.

He heard a small noise come from under the blanket and turned to see Peter’s arms stretching out and his eyes blinking open.

“Morning sleeping beauty,” Tony said with a smile.

“Is it morning already?” Peter asked, confused.

“Nope, it’s only eight o’clock. You slept for like an hour.”

“Oh,” Peter said, slumping back into the pillow.

“I think we should take a night off of work and just watch a movie,” Tony suggested.

Peter’s doe eyes lit up like a kid in a candy shop. “Yeah!”

“Great, I’ll make the popcorn,” Tony said turning away.

“No!” Peter yelled. “I don’t want you to burn the entire tower down,” he added with a smirk.

Tony made a mocking, exaggerated offended face, “I can’t believe ye have so little faith in me.”

Even Peter knew that was a joke.

…

Peter felt rejuvenated after his sleepover with Mr. Stark and he even got to spend the rest of the weekend at the tower. Things went smoothly, Peter felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest by telling Mr. Stark, now he didn’t have to worry as much. Tony was making sure he was being clear with his jokes and making sure Peter had plenty of predictability with what was happening that day. To be honest, he’d never seen the kid so comfortable. It made his heart happy when he saw the kid jump on his toes or wring his hands out. Peter would still blush if he saw Tony watching him stim, but Tony made sure that he knew it was okay. Tony found that the hardest time for Peter was dinner. Pepper would often join them, and though she was fond of the kid, they had never had much interaction. Tony watched as Peter grew less and less sure of himself whenever he was around her. Although, Tony even felt that way around her. She was notoriously difficult to read. Tony hadn’t felt like it was his place to talk about Peter to her, but he had mentioned the things he likes to talk about (science, Star Wars, or Disney).

“So Peter, I’ve heard you like Star Wars,” Pepper said with a smile. “My favorite character is Princess Leia, what about yours?”

Any discomfort or trepidation he had was gone and he began to rattle off reasons on why which character was his favorite and much more. Pepper winked at Tony, who responded with a grateful look.

…

“I’m planning a little “team bonding” weekend with the team up at the compound next week. If you want, I think it’d be good for you to meet the rest of them. You know, officially,” Tony said, a little nervous that the teen would refuse. Or worse, agree just to please him.

“Uhhh,” Peter said shakily, “sure, as long as you’ll be there.”

Tony’s heart melted. How did he deserve this kid? “I’ll be right beside you the whole time Pete.”

Peter’s face regained some certainty. Tony knew he was a little nervous about being in an unfamiliar situation with mostly unfamiliar people. He wracked his brain for ways to make the kid more comfortable.

“Hey, why don’t you come up a few days early and we’ll get you settled in before the rest of the team shows up? That way it’s your space and they’re just visiting,” Tony suggested.

Relief flooded Peter’s face as he nodded profusely. “That’d be great Mr. Stark.”

“Kid, you know you can call me Tony, right. When you call me Mr. Stark it makes me feel like my father,” Tony said with a smile.

“Alright Mr. Stark,” Peter said cheekily.

“Watch it there young man.”

“No thank you _old_ man,” Peter said giggling.

Tony smiled, _“so this is what it feels like to be a dad_ ,” he thought. _“Maybe it isn’t so bad_.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kind words about this story. It makes me so happy to see you guys like it. Anyway, here is chapter four!

**Chapter IV**

“Peter! Have you got your toothbrush?” May called from the living room of their apartment in Queens.

“Yup!” She heard Peter yell back from his bedroom.

May couldn’t believe she was letting Peter, her Peter, leave for a whole week. She was almost always working, but still those in between moments were gonna feel so empty without him. He was so energetic and talkative, he filled the space where Ben used to be, where his parents used to be. It was like that was what Peter did, fill the empty spaces.

“I’m ready,” Peter appeared in the doorway, carrying a backpack and duffel bag, filled with, no doubt, his favorite items from his bookshelf.

May smiled at him, proud for how far he’s come since he entered her and Ben’s life.

Peter had been quiet and jittery for the first year after his parents died. Everyone, including his doctor and first grade teachers, thought it was just grief. It wasn’t until he was in fourth grade that the teacher suggested Peter might have autism. May had always had her suspicions, but felt that Peter just didn’t fit the criteria for autism. She always ended up boiling it down to his own unique quirks. Finally, after a an extensive evaluation, it was confirmed. Peter didn’t have autism, he had NVLD. Which, to be clear, is basically the same thing, just a few differences. Autistic people have great visual thinking and processing skills, and people with NVLD have superior auditory thinking and processing skills. Other than that, pretty much the same. It explained why he was so clumsy and unable to make friends, and also why he was so smart. The spider bite had cured the clumsiness, but still he wasn’t the most coordinated person. He had progressed so much since meeting Tony. He was more confident and independent. More talkative.

“May!” Peter said in exasperation. “Earth to May.”

“Oh sorry Peter,” she said, snapping out of the memories. “I was just thinking about how proud I am of you.”

“Ugh, don’t get all mushy on me,” Peter said with a smile.

A text alert came from Peter’s phone. It was Happy outside with the car.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you in a week,” Peter said, rocking on his toes.

“Come here,” May said, opening her arms for a hug.

The two embraced for what felt like a year. May knew he’d be back soon, and he’d been away for a weekend (Berlin), but this was the longest time he’d be away from her.

“Alright, don’t keep Happy waiting,” May said. “And don’t forget your manners!” She called after the boy as he ran out the door.

…

Peter was practically buzzing with nervous excitement the entire car ride to the compound. He was excited to spend a whole week with Tony, but paled at the thought of having to meet the Avengers without the suit. It was gonna be a whole lot of small talk, something Peter was not fond of. But Tony said he’d be with him the whole time. That was comforting to him, and the fact that he would get to know the compound for a whole three days before the Avengers got there. Like Tony said, it’d be his space.

Once they arrived, Happy went to park the car, leaving Peter standing on the sprawling lawn, holding his bags. Taking in the beautiful scenery, Peter breathed in the fresh air. It smelled nothing like the city with its hot dog stands and smoke. This smelled like sweet, freshly mown grass and warm sun. He didn’t get stand there for too long before Tony came out and saw Peter.

“Did Happy just leave you out here?” Tony said angrily.

“Yeah, but it’s so nice outside that I don’t mind,” Peter said, taking another deep breath.

“Come on, let’s get you unpacked, then we can spend all the time you want in nature,” Tony said with a chuckle, grabbing Peter’s duffle bag.

It didn’t take long to unpack Peter’s stuff. Most of what he’d packed was books and those were easily lined up on the dresser. Peter sighed in content after looking over the room after everything was in place. It felt right. Seeing Peter in the room, _his_ room, made Tony’s heart beat with love. It wasn’t the type of love he felt for Pepper, it was a different kind, like a fatherly kind of love.

“Can we go outside now?” Peter asked, not facing Tony.

“Sure,” Tony said.

Peter turned and walked over to Tony, who was still taking in the feeling in his chest.

“Um, earth to Mr. Stark,” Peter said, repeating what he had said to May earlier that day.

“What? Oh, right. Let’s get some fresh air.”

The two took a walk around the perimeter of the property. Peter walked about half a yard ahead of Tony before stopping and waiting. After a few minutes of this ritual Tony decided to say something.

“If you want to run ahead that’s okay. You don’t have to wait for me,” Tony said.

Peter gave him a quizzical look. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Because you keep walking ahead and then stopping for me,” Tony explained the obvious.

“Oh, sorry. No that’s not what I meant by that,” Peter said quickly. “It’s… it’s just that sometimes I forget that I have to ‘walk with the person’ you know? Then I remember it from what May taught me. It’s these type of nonverbal social things that don’t come naturally to me.”

Tony mental slapped himself. Of course the kid wasn’t trying to be rude.

“Sorry buddy. I forgot,” Tony said.

“Yeah, it’s okay. I just always have to remind myself to do the things that everyone else just does. It’s hard, but I’m trying,” Peter said staring at his feet.

“I know you are. You’re doing great,” Tony said putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

The younger boy looked up, almost meeting the older man’s eyes. “Thanks.”  
Tony just gave a small smile and they continued on their walk, talking about the molecular density of different metal alloy compounds.

After an hour and a half, Peter and Tony returned to the house. They sat down in the kitchen and Tony could see that the kid was nervously rocking a bit. Glancing around the room, probably looking for something to say. In truth, Peter was just trying to memorize the details of the room and ignore the silence from Mr. Stark.

“Hey kid, is there anything I can do to make you feel more comfortable?” Tony asked.

Peter shook his head, and then continued his repetitive movement.

“Come on. I know you’re anxious, just tell me what would make you feel better,” Tony begged.

“Can we look around the compound?” Peter asked.

“Of course. A house tour sounds like a great idea!” Tony said, jumping up from his chair.

They walked through the entire indoor part of the compound. Peter even got to try out some of the equipment in the training room. After getting the feel of the place, Peter felt much better. He and Tony even sat down to watch a movie in the private theatre on the third floor. Two Lord of the Rings movies and a large popcorn and coke later, Peter was tired.

“Looks like someone should go to bed,” Tony said as Peter gave a loud yawn.

“Oh come on Mr. Stark! I’m not that tired,” Peter said, trying to ignore his burning eyes, yearning to sleep.

“Nope, I don’t want to hear it. Get to bed,” Tony gave him a stern look.

“Fine,” Peter said, rolling off of the leather chair and dragging himself up to his room.

Once he was in bed, he quickly fell into a deep sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this one, it's quite long so I had to work on it for a while. I hope you enjoy! Once again, thank you for all the support on this work...

The next few days passed by quickly. Peter was so busy breaking in all the equipment designed for him in the training room, reading on the couch while Mr. Stark attempted to cook Mac and cheese (spoiler alert, he failed and they just ordered pizza), and taking long walks by himself outside. He loved being around Mr. Stark and all, but sometimes he just needed to get away from it all and be alone. Mr. Stark had been super cool about that as well. He respected that Peter needed his time. So three days flew by and Peter woke up the fourth morning with butterflies in his stomach and a nervous feeling in his chest.

“Morning sleepyhead,” Tony said brightly as Peter knocked into the countertop in the kitchen. “You got some wild bedhead.”  
Peter tried to flatten out his wild curls, too groggy to make any sort of remark.

“How are you feeling about today?” Tony asked, a little apprehensive to hear the answer.

“Good,” Peter said croakily, taking a spoonful of the cereal Mr. Stark pushed toward him.

“That’s good,” Tony said, only slightly convinced. “Do you want me to run through the itinerary today?”

Peter nodded, relieved that he didn’t have to ask. Tony saw the look on the kid’s face and knew he had made the right suggestion. He had read somewhere that kids with NVLD have a hard time with the unknown, therefore they crave routine, schedules, and predictability.

Tony began rambling off on the day’s activities which included team training, a barbecue, and movie night. He knew that the rest of the team wouldn’t care what they did during these next four days, but for Peter’s sake, he had tried to keep it as planned as possible.

“What about all the in between?” Peter asked, cutting Tony off from a tangential story about him and Rhodey in college.

“Come again?”

“Well, it’s just that there’s gonna be all this in between time where we’re not doing anything and they’re gonna want to talk to me,” Peter said looking at his soggy cornflakes. “And, I don’t want to embarrass you.”

Tony barely heard that last part, but once he did, his heart sank.

“Look at me Pete.” Peter looked up just enough to pass it off as eye contact. “You could never embarrass me. I promise,” he added when he saw the kid’s cheeks flush. “I’ll be by your side the entire time. And, hey, if you're uncomfortable, we should have a code word that means you want to leave and I’ll cover for you.”

“Okay,” Peter spoke into his bowl again. “Can it be ‘Jedi’?”

“I think that’ll be a bit hard to explain why you all of a sudden said ‘Jedi’ in the middle of a conversation, don’t you think?”  
“I guess so,” Peter said, shrinking back into his chair.

“How about Iron Man?” Tony suggested with a smirk.

“No Mr. Stark,” Peter said with a laugh. “How would you explain that? Huh? I’ve known you for almost a year now, and all of a sudden I just blurt out your superhero name in the middle of the conversation. That’s almost weirder than ‘Jedi’.”

“That’s true,” the older man said smiling. “Jedi it is,” he said to a beaming Peter.

The morning passed a little too quickly for Peter’s liking. Despite Tony’s reassurances, he felt a growing anxiety over meeting _the_ Avengers.

“ _I guess that’s pretty normal_ ,” Peter thought to himself as he fixed his hair in the mirror.

“Boss would like me to inform you that the Avengers just drove in,” FRIDAY’s voice came over the intercom.

“Tell him I’ll be down in a minute,” Peter responded, feeling a jolt of nerves run through his system.

“Be cool,” Peter whispered to himself the entire way down to the living space floor where they would all meet up.

Tony was standing there, chill as ever, brightening up as soon as he saw Peter.

“You ready?” Tony said, smiling down at the curly-haired boy.

Peter just nodded, not trusting his voice enough to speak. Just then. The elevator doors opened with a ding and the Avengers came piling out. Peter’s eyes grew wide as he saw Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff, Colonel Rhodes, Clint Barton, and Thor standing in front of him. Peter couldn’t help but think they were so much bigger in person.

“Hey guys. Make yourselves at home, you know where all your rooms are,” Tony said genially.

They all filed upstairs, making Thor carry their bags just because. Once they were out of earshot, Peter let out a long, slow breath.

“They’re a lot more intimidating when I’m not wearing the suit,” Peter said to Tony, remembering back to Berlin.

“Well you handled them pretty well back then,” Tony said, picking up on Peter’s thought process.

“Yeah, well that was when I was Spider-Man, being Peter Parker is completely different,” Peter said quietly.

“You’ll be fine, just remember, I’ll be with you the whole time. Unless, of course, you want me to leave you alone,” Tony smiled.

The two sat in the living room in silence, waiting for the team to come down. Peter looked over at Tony, unable to recognize what he was feeling. He ran through a list in his mind that he’d learned from one of his therapists as a kid. The list was a chart of facial expressions, but none of them matched Tony’s face right now.

“What are you feeling?” Peter asked, swallowing his shame.

Tony hesitated for a second and responded, “I feel nervous as well. This is the first time we’ve all gotten together like this since my falling out with Cap. But, I also feel happy and calm because you’ll be there with me the whole time.”

“Unless, of course, you want me to leave,” Peter said with a smile.

Tony laughed, “I could never.”

Before either one of them could get in another word, the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs filled the room. Tony patted Peter on the shoulder and they both stood up, just as Steve and Bucky showed up first.

“Tony,” the blond said, in what Peter recognized as his serious face.

“Spangles,” Tony replied in his usual quippy manner.

The two men approached each other, unwavering in their expressions. Bucky looked over at Peter, who was glancing between them. Just as Bucky was preparing to intervene between a fight, Tony and Steve hugged each other.

“ _What?_ ” Peter thought.

Bucky was equally as confused as they watched the two hug it out.

“Everything all good?” Nat asked.

Peter hadn’t even heard her come in. Clint was standing right behind her, clutching his bow in his hand.

“Yup,” Tony said as the rest of the Avengers came into the room. “Let’s get this party started.”  
Within minutes, there was raucous laughter and loud conversations. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, even Peter looked happy. Except, he was losing his mind. He felt confused with the amount of sarcasm and inside jokes he was missing and pretending to laugh at. After two hours of this charade, he was dazed and exhausted. Tony had left for the backyard to start up the grill. Before he’d gotten up he’d asked Peter if he would be okay alone. Not wanting to bother him, Peter had foolishly said yes.

“Uh, I’m gonna g-go see if Mr. Stark needs any help,” Peter stuttered out to Sam, Bucky, and Wanda who he was sitting with. They were all deep in a story about Sam’s time in the army to even notice Peter stumbling out the door.

He raced outside to the back patio and nearly sank to the ground in relief. Tony heard the glass door slide shut and saw Peter standing beside it. He could see that the kid was overwhelmed and mentally slapped himself for not bringing the kid out with him in the first place.

“Pete? You okay?” Tony quietly approached Peter who had his eyes shut and was breathing heavily.

Peter nodded without opening his eyes.

“I know that’s not true, do you want me to sit with you?”

Peter didn’t say anything so Tony took that as a yes. They sat leaning on the patio door for at least 10 minutes before Peter finally said something.

“It’s just really hard,” Peter said. “Being with them and trying to ‘get it’ all the time. I’m trying so hard to just do what everyone else just _does_.”

“I know you’re trying really hard, and I am right here for you. I know I left you alone for a bit, I’ll make sure not to do that again. Do you want to sit with me while I finish working on the grill?” Tony asked.

“Sure,” Peter said, silently thanking Mr. Stark for that suggestion.

Peter sat in a chair while Tony hummed along to a song that Peter didn’t know. He was starting to feel a bit better when Nat walked out. She gave a small smile to Peter and approached Tony.

“Hey Nat, what are you doing out here?” Tony squinted in the sunlight.

“Oh nothing, just tired of hearing the same stories about missions I was already on,” she said. “Actually I just wanted a break from them and wanted to get to know Peter a bit, you know, not when we’re in the middle of beating everyone up on an airplane tarmac."  
Tony looked over at Peter who had heard the conversation.

“You good with that Pete?”

“Yeah,” Peter said, he felt better enough to have a conversation with one person. It was a bit easier than a whole group where there were multiple streams of conversations.

“Hey Peter, it’s nice to officially meet you,” Natasha said, sitting down across from him.

“It’s nice to see you too,” Peter said, in what he hoped was a natural sounding voice.

“So, what sort of things do you get up to with Tony?” She asked with a glance over at the older man.

“Oh, um, just lab work and stuff. We work on my suit or webbing or on Karen, she’s my AI in my suit,” Peter explained.

“That sounds really cool! What’s your favorite thing to work on?”

Peter began explaining all of the components of webbing and how he made sure all the different aspects of his suit had to function together in order for him to swing from buildings.

“So that’s my favorite thing to work on, sorry,” he said, realizing he’d just talked for fifteen minutes straight.

“Don’t be, you’re really smart. How did you figure out the right chemical ratio for the webs?” She asked with genuine interest.

Peter smiled like a kid in a candy shop and spent the rest of the time until lunch talking to Nat about chemistry and science.

The Avengers were all standing outside with paper plates and red cups talking and eating lunch. Peter had gone to the bathroom, so Tony had a minute to talk to Nat.

“That was really nice what you did for Peter,” he said.

“What are you talking about?” She asked.

“Just sitting with him and talking about science. It was just something nice for you to do,” Tony explained. “How’d you know?”

“Tony I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about. I really just wanted to get to know the kid. He’s crazy smart, probably smarter than you and I think we all have a thing or two to learn from him,” she said. “He’s young and smart and I feel protective of him. He’s so innocent and I don’t want him to end up like you or me. He’s too good for that sort of thing.”

“Thanks Nat,” Tony said just as Peter came back out to grab some lunch.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been finishing up college applications, moving my horse and myself to Florida for a few months, and definitely not procrastinating about doing anything related to writing (who, me?). So here is the long awaited sixth chapter, and I'll hopefully have the seventh and final installment out by tomorrow! Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter VI**

The rest of the day was spent in the the training room. Getting back in the suit was like taking a long exhale for Peter. He got to swing from rafter to rafter, showing off his spidey skills with the rest of the team. Everyone was impressed with how agile he was even though Sam kept trying to cut his webs with his wings. After two hours dodging Caps’s shield and Nat’s kicks, the entire team was beat. They all trudged upstairs to the common room.

“You got moves kid,” Sam said, gulping down some water.

“Thanks,” Peter replied.

Everyone else complimented him on his abilities and Peter beamed. He felt like he was really part of the team for a first time.

Steve offered to cook dinner while the rest of them showered and got ready for movie night. Peter went to his room and flopped on his bed, not wanting to move for the rest of eternity. After a particularly difficult training session (despite making it look easy) and a morning of mingling, he was ready for a long nap. Which I guess he must have done because the next thing he remembered was FRIDAY’s voice informing him that it was dinner time. He looked over at the clock and saw that it was two hours later!  
“Shoot,” Peter said under his breath, leaping out of bed.

He quickly got out of his suit and got in a pair of sweatpants and a science pun t-shirt (of course). He combed his fingers through his hair and splashed some cold water on his face and then ran down the stairs.

“Peter! Good of you to join us,” Steve said.

Peter wasn’t sure how to respond, so he just sat down. Tony glanced over at him, making sure he was okay. It wasn’t like Peter to be late, he was normally exceptionally early. As everyone was serving themselves, Tony leaned over to him.

“Hey, you okay? Where were you?”

“Oh, I accidentally fell asleep after training and FRIDAY woke me up just a few minutes ago,” Peter whispered.

Relief flooded Tony. He had seriously worried that something had happened. With that off of his mind, they all dug into their first team dinner.

Once everyone was stuffed, they made their way to the movie theatre. Bucky and Clint were bickering over which movie to watch (Bucky wanted a drama, Clint wanted a comedy), Thor was trying to figure out the popcorn machine and nearly setting fire to the whole compound before Rhodey went over to help him, and Wanda was already covered in a nest of blankets sipping on a small coke. Peter was sitting by the wall, when Nat joined him.

“Sorry about these idiots,” she gestured to the rest of the group. “For a team of superheroes you’d think we’d get along better.”

Peter smiled and nodded, “Yeah.”

Tony walked over to the two and sat next to Nat.

“What do you two want to watch, cause clearly we’re not getting anywhere with the other’s arguing,” Tony asked.

Peter shrugged, not wanting to suggest anything someone didn’t want.

“I’m good with whatever,” Nat said turning to Peter.

Tony sensed Peter’s anxiety with making the decision for the whole group.

“How about Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back?” He suggested, knowing it was Peter’s favorite, and that he didn’t really like watching new movies.

“That sounds great!” Nat said.

The lights dimmed and the movie began. Everyone else seemed happy with the choice. Peter had seen the movie at least a thousand times and could recite it to anyone willing to listen. Some people would get bored of watching the same thing over and over again, but for Peter it was like a comfort blanket. He knew what was going to happen, he knew the characters, he knew the lines, he knew every twist and turn. Whenever it played, he felt a sense of calm wash over him.

When the final credit rolled, everyone got up and stretched. Steve yawned loudly (I guess being 100 years old does that to you). Everyone stumbled up to bed and promptly fell asleep. Everyone except Peter. After watching his favorite movie in the world, he was wired. All he wanted to do was get up and _do_ something. Run, jump, swing, rock. Anything but lie down and attempt to sleep. Seeing as he was upstate and there were no buildings to swing from and FRIDAY would probably tell Mr. Stark if he got up and went on a run, he quickly concluded that he was confined to his room. Grabbing his phone and going to his favorite playlist, he put his earbuds in his ears and began listening. He stood up and began pacing his room. Every few steps he bounced off his toes. He couldn’t explain the feeling, but it was like a million bees were just buzzing inside him and the only way to quiet them was to _do_ something. He had no concept of time, and he hadn’t even realized that it was well past midnight. He figured he must’ve been making some noise when he jumped or let out an involuntary squeal. He turned around after pacing toward the wall and began to take a few steps to the door, when his blood ran cold and he stopped dead in his path. He could make out the outline of a figure standing in the doorway. It was Tony. Peter pulled his earbuds out of his ears and stood in silence.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Peter shook his head.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Don’t be, I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Tony explained. “Do you need anything?”

“Nope, I’m okay,” Peter said, hoping Mr. Stark would just leave.

“Okay Pete, I’m right down the hall if you need me.” Tony turned to leave.

“Wait!” Peter blurted out. “Could you, um, could you help me wrap my blankets super tight around me?”

Peter blushed, not sure if it was okay to ask that question. Tony was startled by the request, but hurriedly agreed. Peter crawled on top of one half of his blankets, while Tony tucked over the other half.

“You’re like a Peter burrito,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah,” Peter replied, already feeling his heart rate slow and his nerves relax.

Pressure was always a grounding thing for Peter. If he could lie under a bag of sand he would. It made him feel real.

“Good night,” Tony said affectionately.

“Good night,” Peter said. “And thanks for helping me.”

“Anytime Pete. Anytime.”

Peter put his earbuds back in and put on some slightly more calming music he liked. Within minutes of this plus the blanket burrito he was in, Peter was sound asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading this fic and giving it so much love. I loved writing it. Without further ado here is chapter 7 of Team Bonding. Warning: there's a cliche, sappy ending.

Peter got the hang of the Avengers over the next few days. He even found himself enjoying some of their company (in particular Natasha who went out of her way to make sure he was comfortable). It was all going well, too well. Peter woke up on day three feeling as though he hadn’t slept for a week. He was tired, he missed May, and he didn’t feel like participating in life today. If he was at home, he would just stay in bed for a couple hours watching Youtube fail compilations. Unfortunately, that wasn’t really an option for him right now as today was the last full day the entire team would be here. So, naturally, Tony had planned the most events. They were going back to the training room, having a “last day” party outside, and whatever cheesy bonding exercise Pepper had planned for them to do that evening. Normally, Peter would be able to suck it up and deal with it, but his head was spinning and his hurt and he felt like someone had pulled a plug on his energy. He was just completely drained. Rolling out of bed, his legs and arms felt heavy and he dragged himself over to his closet, pulling on a shirt with another science pun on it. He groaned when he realized it was on backwards.

“Great,” he mumbled as he adjusted it.

Stumbling downstairs, he collapsed onto the couch.

“Woah there kid.” It was Bucky.

He’d obviously come down early for some coffee. Peter sat straight up, not realizing there was another person in the room.

“Rough night?” He asked.

“Not really,” Peter replied.

Bucky nodded, not asking any more questions. He came and sat down next to Peter, taking a sip from his mug.

“Want a cup?” He asked the younger boy.

“No thanks,” Peter said, shaking his head. Caffeine would probably only make things ten times worse for him. He’d tried coffee once before and within a few minutes was off the walls insane. That was the last thing he needed today. He already felt on the brink of losing all sense of the world that caffeine was the last thing he needed. Peter knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to go out on patrol as Spider-Man. He’d been Peter Parker for too long now and he just wanted to be the crime fighting spider he could pretend to be. That was also not an option right now.

“Wanna go for a run?” Bucky suggested out of the blue.

Peter gave him a quizzical look. “Uh, sure?”

“Great, go get dressed and we’ll head out.” Bucky got off the couch.

Five minutes later they stepped out into the brisk morning air in sweatpants and t-shirts. Peter felt the breeze rustle through his curls.

“Ready?” Bucky asked, stretching out his hamstring.

“Yup!” Peter said, feeling his muscles tense, ready to start running.

The two set off down the path that Peter and Mr. Stark had walked on the first day Peter had gotten here. Peter could feel his lungs expand with every breath and hear his shoes crunching on the gravel in time with Bucky’s. This felt almost as good as patrol. After their first lap, Bucky started panting and slowing down. Peter, on the other hand, being lighter and more agile, was barely breaking a sweat as he picked up the pace, leaving the Winter Soldier in his dust.

Another two laps down and Bucky flopped onto the grass, his chest heaving.

“Alright, alright, enough,” he panted as Peter jogged in place next to him. “Seriously, where do you get all this energy?”

“I dunno, but can we do one more? Please?” Peter pleaded.

“No. I might have a heart attack.”

Peter stopped and sat down next to Bucky on the grass, waiting for him to catch his breath.

“Breakfast?” Bucky asked after a few minutes.

“Fine,” Peter agreed.

By the time they got back to the compound, Wanda, Rhodey, and Steve were all up and talking in the kitchen.

“Where have you two been?” Steve asked, noticing the exercise clothes and Bucky’s sweaty face.

“Running,” Peter said excitedly.

“This kid is like a long distance sprinter. He could’ve gone on for hours,” Bucky said, sitting down at the counter.

“Well, I made pancakes for everyone,” Steve said merrily.

Breakfast was easy now that Peter had an idea for who everyone was and what to expect from each person. Clint was almost as sarcastic as Tony, so Peter knew not to take everything he said to heart. Wanda was pretty quiet, Sam was pretty loud, Tony was Tony. Yet, the exhaustion of the week was catching up to Peter. By mid-morning, he was having a harder time keeping up a brief conversation with Thor (who to be fair is hard to follow even if you’re a master conversationalist). He could feel his social battery draining and taking his ability to function with it. Meanwhile, his anxiety was skyrocketing. That often happened, the more tired he became in a social situation, the more active his anxiety became. Tony must’ve sensed that something was wrong because he all of a sudden appeared at Peter’s side.

“Hey buddy, can you go check if you left the light on in your room? FRIDAY just notified me that there’s an energy surplus in there.”

Tony gave Peter a quick smile, which meant that this was on purpose. Peter could’ve hugged him, but he turned and left Mr. Stark to talk to Thor about who know’s what.

Upon entering his room, the teenager almost collapsed onto his bed. It was only 11 am, four more hours to go. He loved being at the tower with Mr. Stark, working in the lab, but this was definitely out of his skillset.

After spending a good five minutes just flopped on top of his covers, he finally mustered up the energy to slither onto the floor, his back pressed against his bed. He must’ve been like that for a while, cause there was a knock on his door.

“Come in,” Peter said in what he hoped was a normal sounding voice.

Nat and Bucky both peeked their heads in.

“You okay?” Asked Nat.

Peter nodded quickly, trying to find the energy to say anything to them so they wouldn’t think he was weird.

They walked in and sat on either side of Peter.

“What do you wanna do?” Bucky asked.

After a moment’s hesitation, he said “Can we watch Star Wars crack videos?”

“I’m sorry what?” Nat asked, bewildered.

“Star Wars crack videos. They’re like Star Wars memes, but weirder,” Peter explained.

“Again, what?”

“Just pull them up on your phone.”

A minute later they were all laughing at the strange comments and edits made to the clips and Peter felt a bit more human (as opposed to zombie-like). At the same time though, Peter felt a pang of guilt when he thought about how Bucky and Nat had taken time away from hanging out to be with him. He felt like they at least deserved an explanation.

“Guys,” Peter interjected after the seven minute video was over, “I have something to tell you.”

The two looked at the younger hero with a curious expression on their faces.

“I have this weird disorder that-“

“Peter, you don’t have to explain yourself,” Bucky said before Peter could finish.

“Yeah, we’re all misfits and outcasts, I mean you’re talking to a spy and a super soldier,” Nat joked.

“You don’t care that I’m weird and different and don’t understand stuff the way you do?” Peter was bewildered at their response.

“Look at me,” Nat said seriously. “Seeing things in a different way is one of the biggest advantages to have in life, especially when your job is being part of a team of superheroes who all are idiots sometimes.”

“Also, someone needs to be smarter than Tony,” Bucky smiled.

“Thanks guys,” Peter said.

“No problem buddy,” Bucky said tussling Peter’s hair with his human arm. “We should get back downstairs before Tony and Cap get into a fight over who has to clean the dishes.”

“Ok, I’m ready to come back down now,” Peter said, heaving himself off the floor.

The three returned to living room where, sure enough Tony and Steve were arguing over some mundane task that could be down within seconds. Peter saw the whole team in a new light after his conversation with Nat and Bucky. They all were just a bunch of misfits that had found a family. For the first time in a long time, Peter felt like he belonged somewhere. Doing whatever the heck he did with this weird life he had.


End file.
